Up for privatisation, TAP – Air Portugal closed the first half of this year with €112m in losses, 14.6% worse than one year earlier, the national flag-carrier has reported.

“Strikes and the price of fuel kept TAP-SA from improving its figures for the first half”, the company said in a press release Thursday, 16 August.

Portugal’s centre-right government, implementing an EU-IMF bailout that includes a broad privatisation programme, has said it plans to privatise the airline, which flies to 77 destinations in 35 countries, by the end of this year.

TAP said “labour problems” had a direct negative impact of €21.6m during the first six months and that fuel costs had risen 20% to €390m.

On the positive side, it reported revenues had climbed 9.3% to €1.084bn, with the fleet transporting slightly more than 4.7 million passengers, an increase of 4.7% over the same 2011 period.